NerfPlayeR135
Just call me Nerf.
I'm finally moving past plain text, and I'm including my feedback within the rankings themselves. Hopefully that will make it a bit easier to read. Some preliminary notes:
- I always use OpenGL for gameplay.
- Since levels tend to be built around him, I played as Sonic. I had TailsBot with me just in case, but didn't use him.
- I tend to switch frequently between first and third-person.
- It's a lot easier for me to elaborate on negatives than positives.
- I did not attempt to collect all emblems or perform any Record Attack runs.
- I used version 1.0 of the OLDC addon.
- I avoided the SRB2 Discord entirely until I submitted my votes.
- Thanks to SeventhSentinel for organizing the OLDC, as well as the following people for creating the assets used to bind the levels together: Tatsuru, Varren, Lach, CobaltBW, Saneko, RoyKirbs, D00D64, and Princess Plushima.
- And thank you to everyone who submitted a level to this contest!
- Foliage Furnace Zone Act 2 by Othius, Kanna, and Spectorious
I don't think this trio is capable of making a level that isn't anything short of glorious. Fantastic level design that emphasizes speed without forgetting about the platforming, amazing visuals, and a neat, well-used gimmick: cannons! Made of papersprites! I also greatly appreciate the content warning (since I am sensitive to noise) for one particular secret that I will not spoil. Finally, I do understand that these levels are made for Software (and they still look great in OpenGL), but when there are visible artifacts in one of the first rooms, that's a bit concerning. - Enchanted Enclave by Vixuzen
A Rayman-inspired collect-a-thon level. There are emblem rewards for killing all enemies, saving all Lums, and grabbing all rings (thankfully you don't need to hold onto the latter) - you can track your progress via the status screen, and the emblems are given to you instantly upon completion. Vixuzen has created these kinds of maps before, and I believe this is a great refinement of the formula. He even fixed the permanency issues a lot of custom collectable levels have had in the past. And when I went back to check for these issues, I was surprised to see that the level's impressive visuals had changed! With new music to boot! The level design is well done, with special mention going to the pit in the woods that teleports you instead of killing you. Even the custom enemies seem rather fairly designed and placed. The only complaint I can think of is that I started slightly dropping frames after I either killed everything or saved all the Lums. (I don't remember which.) - Spiral Hill Pizza by Rogerregorroger
An exploration-based level with a unique objective: deliver six pizzas to various locations in a town within ninety seconds. Unfortunately Roger doesn't have much experience with Lua, so there's no visible timer, but the music can be used as one for repeat attempts. You will need to try multiple times to achieve perfection here, as your only guides are some brief textual hints and a large green arrow. I only needed six attempts or so, but I have a feeling other people will struggle here - perhaps a skyward beam of light would have helped more than an arrow?
Emblems are earned for delivering increasing numbers of pizzas, and you also get to explore the town if you deliver them all. This is the best part - the map is so huge and detailed that I'm surprised the FPS for the Software renderer only dips into the tens at worst. I guarantee you that a Hangout conversion for Spiral Hill Pizza would prove very popular. - Festung oder so by The Shadow
Apparently the level's name is "Fortress or something" in German (thanks Google Translate). You're given a short, natural tutorial before being thrust into the level proper: find six buttons to open the fortress gates before the whole thing falls out of the sky. The way the fortress collapses over time looks cool, and combined with the moving skybox and the timer, this gives a proper sense of urgency. There are also two more buttons than you need to press to finish, and an infinite Whirlwind Shield, so the odds aren't stacked against you. A short but very sweet level. - Tarnish Ward by Princess Plushima
An Emerald Hunt map in a very large sewer. There's a distinct melancholy tone here, created by the music, textures, and sprites - it seems like almost everything with a face looks depressed. It's very well done in my opinion, even if it feels like there's a reference I'm missing. To help with your search, unused Emerald Shard spawnpoints are replaced with hint monitors. (No, not like the ones in SA2 - these ones must be broken.) This greatly helped me, because I wouldn't have found the pieces in my first playthrough without them. Two were hidden behind graffiti'd walls that break on contact, and the other was in the "guts of a crusher." I can probably see people getting frustrated if they have to get those pieces and can't figure out the solution, but the hints themselves are still a good idea. - Magma Laboratory Zone by RoyKirbs
The aesthetics here are nice, there's some cool-looking setpieces, and the level is designed fairly well, but this one just doesn't seem to stand out. Also, the Snailers seem to have a tendency to shoot TNT barrels at the worst times possible. - Freezer Folley Zone by FAVman33
First off: the unique, cartoony texture design really strikes a chord with me. The level is designed fairly well. Using NiGHTS hoops to guide the player is a good idea in my opinion. I like the idea of bouncing off of jello, too - it's something Jello Factory (if I'm remembering the name correctly) from one of the SUGOI Trilogy packs also played with, but here it's a lot more visually appealing. However, you're railroaded into using the ramp at the beginning no matter what, despite there being a whole area to explore. Getting back to the ramp can be an unnecessarily treacherous affair, too, especially when the rest of the level is rather easy. - Yearning Yachtyard Zone by PhilJFou AKA ChaRG
And the trophy for Most Improved goes to PhilJFou AKA ChaRG! This level certainly achieved the aesthetic vibe it was going for. Those yachts are impressive-looking, if a bit cramped on the inside. Most importantly, the level design is pretty good, and the map just felt fun to play in general. Some parts felt a bit incomplete (the map WAS rushed though). I also think the author should take a look at vanilla SRB2 item placement, because it often felt like I was getting showered with monitors despite not putting in much effort. Case in point: Crossing a small river with one jump (not even a thok) let me access a 1-up and four ring boxes that honestly weren't even hidden. - SunkSea X Zone by Nuhu64
Not bad for a remade version of someone's first map. Although the level design is rather random, there does seem to be a flow to it. The visuals are rather avant-garde but stick to a theme. I think Nuhu has potential, and I hope they get the chance to unleash it. - Chaos Cove Zone by Glaber
An Emerald Hunt level, but with a secondary goal of collecting seven Emerald Tokens-turned-Chaos Emeralds scattered about the place. A nice change of pace, but it didn't really blow me out of the water. I did take slight issue with the usage of Mystic Realm music - custom music is rather easy to implement, and while Jade Coast is a good fit for this nice-looking map, pretty much everyone's heard it a million times already. I also have no clue how to open that gargoyle door, if it can be opened at all... - Bitter Brink Zone by MarbleCheese
The OLDC post mentioned that custom characters may cause glitches here, especially when using the Automatic playstyle, during 2D sections. I can see why, since it uses Axis2D; that didn't affect me though. The level select picture depicting Sonic on a snowmobile (I don't have a better name for it) looks really cool, but surely you can't put that in SRB2, right? Wrong.
Ingenuity aside, the actual snowmobile section is kind of disappointing. You go through a short tube, then a flat maze, and that's kind of it. There isn't much speed to it either. The level design in general isn't the best, as most of the beginning can be skipped by doing some basic platforming. I think the map looks pretty good, though, and I thought the custom speed shoes music was cool too. - Egg Machine Zone by nickls2002
This level has amazing visuals. I don't normally play with shaders turned on (they tend to mess with laser transparency, among other things), but I wasn't expecting the skybox's lighting to be improved so much by them. There's clearly a lot of technical prowess on display here. I also greatly appreciate the freeze put on the player's controls while transitioning between 2D planes, to ensure nothing goes wrong; that's something levels like Junkyard Jeopardy from the last OLDC desperately needed.
However, there are some glaring issues. The level is very difficult; thankfully there's plenty of checkpoints, so I didn't feel like I was losing too much progress with each death. However, the difficulty also feels artificial in some places, such as with the laser hallway and the lifts over the giant laser floor; it sometimes feels like you're tossing a coin to determine whether you'll get through unscathed. In my opinion, the level is also too long; I felt exhausted by the end.
And finally, the gimmicks are not implemented well. Yes, it's cool that there's floating THZ goop and gravity flip zones, but here it's a case of "pick your poison." On the goop side, we've got a 2D section where you need to use the momentum from the goop to ascend, but if you get hit you lose all control for about ten seconds. If you choose gravity flips, you better figure out that you have to hold jump to fully preserve your momentum, or you're not making it through. Also have fun at the end of the first section (this is where I gave up and did the goop instead), where you have to use springs to make an untelegraphed jump out of a gravity flip zone. To summarize, cool ideas, poor execution. - Hell Coaster Zone Act 1 by Voidy2246
This level is difficult, make no mistake. It looks nice, at least, and I like the little touch of Eggman watching you through monitors as you struggle. The 3D parts aren't too bad, I suppose, although I died grabbing the Flame Shield because a Robo-Hood from later in the level sniped the TNT barrels. (Pro tip: Hold onto that shield for as long as you can.) It's the long 2D section that I'm really not fond of. Lots of crushers, bumper platforming with Spinboberts that I cannot avoid because their projectiles phase into the bumpers, getting hit by projectiles from an offscreen Unidus, and not a single checkpoint to be seen. Also, the lava instantly kills you - while I suppose it makes sense in terms of level design, Red Volcano Zone uses the same lava texture for its lava, and does not have that behavior. Minor nitpick, I know. - Zaxel's Thunder Yard Act 2 by Zaxel Katsugyo
Where do I begin? The first thing I noticed was the texturing - it's all oversized and mismatched. Then I realized that I was constantly dropping 2-4 frames. As I continued forward, I came up with a likely reason why: the map is too big, and there are just too many objects for the game to handle at once.
Now, a bit of context. The original Thunder Yard (which did not have "Act 1" in its name, mind you) was part of the OLDC 2021 Round 1, and I gave it my highest rating. Why? It had a gimmick I liked: lots of rings, and a steady supply of electric shields to grab those rings with. I like collecting things, so I ignored the level's faults.
Act 2 does not fix any of "Act 1's" issues, and indeed makes things worse. Electric shields attract bombs, so why not put their monitors right next to bombs so that you can't use them? And while we're at it, let's put in even more electric hazards, so that trying to get through without an electric shield is unnecessarily difficult? And then let's greatly reduce the number of said shields (or hide them all in places I couldn't find or care to find). Oh, we should dump all the Unidi and electric spirit things that ever existed all over the map, too. Finally, let's use the entire file size budget on music for cutscenes and secrets, leaving nothing for audio cues for the custom enemies... AGAIN.
Zaxel, if you read this, PLEASE try something different. No more giant collectathon maps. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm sick and tired of them.
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